Athens, 2004 Olympics"Will they or won't they?" is a question normally reserved for the protagonists of cheesy sitcoms. But since the 2004 Olympics were awarded to Athens in 1997, skeptics wondered whether the city would or wouldn't be able to pull it off. By now, unless you were been living under a rock or in one of the more hard-core monasteries on Mount Athos this past summer (in which case, bravo on obtaining internet access), you know that the Athens Olympics were a colossal success. I was there, writing about the Games for the New York Sun, and I have to say I wish it was the Olympics every day, with free concerts in every square, free, clean, efficient public transportation everywhere, rowdy beach volleyball games and energetic Dutch tourists frolicking in orange t-shirts. But a year before the Games, when this article ran in Travel+Leisure, everyone was worried about the Games. This piece discusses the controversy over delays in preparations and the reasons the stakes were so high for Athens. It also talks about the lasting impact of the Olympics: how the new airport, roads, and pedestrian walkways linking archaeological sites that were created for the Games have transformed Athens into a new and improved city for both locals and tourists. For more information, check out the article at the Travel+Leisure link at left, or link to the Athens 2004 official website, also above left. |
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